Myanmar: Elections a fraudulent claim for credibility

Foreign Governments Should Reject Sham Electoral Process, Denounce Abuses

Originally published on HRW

Foreign governments should reject the Myanmar junta’s plans to hold elections from late December 2025 through January 2026 because they will not be free, fair, or inclusive, Human Rights Watch said today. Since the February 2021 military coup, the junta has systematically dismantled the rule of law and the country’s nascent democratic systems, and ahead of the polls it has ramped up repression and violence.

The junta announced that the first two phases of the multistage elections will take place on December 28 and January 11. Since the coup, the junta has banned dozens of political parties and jailed an estimated 30,000 political prisoners, including nearly 100 people detained under a draconian election law passed in July. Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the junta’s leader, has acknowledged that the elections will not be held in all townships, reflecting the widespread fighting with opposition armed groups characterized by the military’s war crimes.

“The Myanmar junta’s sham elections are a desperate bid for international legitimacy after nearly five years of brutal military repression,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Governments lending any credibility to these polls would signal a complete lack of support for rights-respecting civilian democratic rule in Myanmar.”

On July 29, the junta enacted the Law on the Prevention of Obstruction, Disruption, and Sabotage of Multiparty Democratic General Election, which criminalizes criticism of the election by banning all speech, organizing, or protest that disrupts any part of the electoral process. Violators can face up to 20 years in prison and the death penalty.